Table of Contents
A PLUME BOOK
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Epigraph
Part One
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
Part Two
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
twenty
twenty-one
twenty-two
Part Three
twenty-three
twenty-four
twenty-five
twenty-six
twenty-seven
twenty-eight
twenty-nine
thirty
thirty-one
thirty-two
thirty-three
epilogue
afterword
glossary
A PLUME BOOK
RASHI’S DAUGHTERS BOOK III: RACHEL
MAGGIE ANTON was born Margaret Antonofsky in Los Angeles, California. Raised in a secular, socialist household, she reached adulthood with little knowledge of her Jewish religion. All that changed when Dave Parkhurst entered her life, and they discovered Judaism as adults. That was the start of a lifetime of adult Jewish education, synagogue involvement, and ritual observance. This was in addition to raising their children, Emily and Ari, and working full time as a clinical chemist.
In 1997, as her nest was emptying and her mother was declining with Alzheimer’s disease, she became intrigued with the idea that Rashi, one of Judaism’s greatest scholars, had no sons, only three daughters. Using techniques developed doing her family’s genealogy, she began to research Rashi’s family, and the idea of a book about them was born.
Eight years later, the first volume of Rashi’s Daughters was finally complete, making Maggie Anton a Talmud maven and an authority on medieval French Jewish women. She retired from the lab and spent the next two years researching and writing Book II: Miriam, in addition to lecturing at more than one hundred synagogues, JCCs, and Jewish women’s organizations.
Maggie lives in Los Angeles, California, with Dave, her husband of thirty-nine years, where she is working on her next historical novel. You can follow her blog and contact her at her Web site, www.rashisdaughters.com.
Advance Praise for Rashi’s Daughters, Book III: Rachel
“Imaginative and talented novelists have the ability to shed fresh light on corners of history otherwise inaccessible. Maggie Anton’s new book, Rashi’s Daughters: Rachel, takes us once again into the medieval Jewish world of love and learning, and the love of learning. One can only be grateful for such an intriguing and engaging work.”
—Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, Professor of Bible, Hebrew Union College-
Jewish Institute of Religion; editor of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary
(2008 National Jewish Book Award)
“Rashi’s Daughters: Rachel is an enlightened, empowering, and engaging journey of Rashi’s youngest daughter, Rachel, who enacts the forbidden during the Middle Ages—studying and teaching Talmud as a female. Thought provoking, research rich, psychologically complex, Rachel is a mirror of our own hearts and minds, a tale of pathos that awakens the tenderest of emotions, even if time separates us by nine hundred years.”
—Elissa Elliott, author of Eve
“This third book of Maggie Anton’s brilliantly original trilogy is a page-turning delight. I’m dazzled by the clever ways in which Anton integrates poignant depictions of Rashi’s third daughter with obscure yet wonderfully pertinent Talmud texts, fun details about ancient medicines and the complexities of wool weaving, a gripping portrayal of the horrors of the Crusades, and descriptions about the vivid intellectual world of medieval Europe.”
—Rabbi Miriyam Glazer, PhD, Professor of Literature,
American Jewish University; author of Psalms of the
Jewish Liturgy: A Guide to Their Beauty, Power, and Meaning
“With only scraps of information about Rashi’s daughters, Anton has brought these three women to life. A stunning achievement. You will not be able to put this book down and you may even find yourself rushing off to study Talmud. So curl up in your favorite chair and savor every moment.”
—Judith Hauptman, E. Billi Ivry Professor of Talmud
and Rabbinic Culture, Jewish Theological Seminary;
author of Rereading the Rabbis, A Woman’s Voice
Praise for the Rashi’s Daughters Trilogy
“True to life yet colorful characters and a riveting plot . . . a most informative and enjoyable read. Not to be missed!”
—Eva Etzioni-Halevy, author of The Garden of Ruth
“Wonderful . . . a fascinating glimpse into the world of Jewish women long ago.”
—Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, author of ReVisions: Seeing Torah
Through a Feminist Lens
PLUME
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Plume, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, August
Copyright © Maggie Anton, 2009
All rights reserved
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Anton, Maggie.
Rashi’s Daughters : Book Three—Rachel / Maggie Anton.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-101-13333-0
1. Jewish women—Fiction. 2. Rashi, 1040-1105—Fiction. 3. Troyes (France)—Fiction.
4. Jews—France—Fiction. 5. Jews—France—History—to 1500—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3551.N765 R3 2005
813.54—dc22 2005920049
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
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To my father
NATHAN GEORGE ANTON
Like Rashi,
No sons, only learned daughters
acknowledgments
FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, when I began researching the lives of Rashi’s daughters in hopes of discovering if any truth lay behind the legends of their being learned and wearing tefillin, I never imagined that I would end up writing a trilogy of novels about them. I certainly never imagined that Rashi’s Daughters would be published by a major New York house, that my books would become bestsellers, or that I would be receiving fan mail every day.
There are so many people responsible for this amazing turn of events. I’ve studied with some of the finest Talmud scholars in America, but I owe a large debt of gratitude to Rabbi Aaron Katz, my study partner and dear friend since 2002. Aaron has taught me so much that there aren’t words enough to thank him. My books would not exist without his assistance.
I want to thank my outstanding editor at Plume, Signe Pike, who went over every line of Rashi’s Daughters, Book III: Rachel and suggested changes that better expressed what I wanted to say. Also much appreciation to my freelance editor, Beth Lieberman, for advice and encouragement that turned this book, and my others, into the ones I wanted them to be, and to Sharon Goldinger, who shepherded this naive author into a successful one. My friend Ray Eelsing and my daughter, Emily, spent many hours critiquing my early drafts. Each brought their own unique talents to the task and their comments were invaluable.
Last, but certainly not least, I offer heartfelt thanks and love to my husband, Dave, who had no idea that his chemist wife with a normal job would morph into an author who wrote late at night and on weekends, who traveled all over the country speaking, and who would get corralled by fans when we went out. Yet his encouragement never wavered. He gave me excellent advice to improve my first drafts, could always think of the right word when I couldn’t, and endured countless intrusions of my writing life into our personal lives. Without his support I would have given up long ago.
Now that my trilogy is at long last complete, I must also acknowledge my many fans: you chose Rashi’s Daughters for your book groups, invited me to speak at your organizations, and validated my belief that women, especially Jewish women, were hungry for books with real, historical heroines. Your e-mails told me how Rashi’s daughters touched your lives, taught you so many things you never knew about Jewish women’s history, even encouraged you to study Talmud. I tried to answer every one, even the complaints.
And though I have no plans for Rashi’s Granddaughters, rest assured that I intend to continue writing. I am currently researching a new era and location, with the goal of another historical novel celebrating an unknown Jewish heroine. My readers can look forward to more Love and Talmud, this time in fourth-century Babylonia.
time line
When love is strong, we can lie together on the edge of a sword.
When it grows weak, a bed sixty cubits wide is not big enough
for us.
—Sefer Haggadah (The Book of Legends)
prologue
THE FINAL DECADES of the eleventh century saw the Jews of Troyes, France, entering a time of unparalleled financial prosperity, political security, and intellectual achievement. No armies had invaded the region for generations, and the last multiyear famine was already more than fifty years in the past. Under the enlightened sovereignty of Count Thibault and Countess Adelaide, the great fairs of Champagne attracted merchants from throughout the known world, fueling a local economic boom that would continue for almost two hundred years.
Elsewhere in Europe, discovery and innovation was likewise on the rise. European scholars had discovered the lost Greek philosophy and science that had been translated into Arabic and improved upon by their Muslim counterparts, setting the stage for what is now called the Twelfth-Century Renaissance.
Jews living in Muslim lands eagerly immersed themselves in this new knowledge, producing great poets, philosophers, astronomers, and mathematicians. Their compatriots in Ashkenaz (France and Germany) eschewed secular subjects and devoted themselves to Torah study. In particular, they established great yeshivot, advanced academies for learning and discussing Talmud, the Jewish Oral Law.
One of these yeshivot, albeit a small one in Troyes when our tale begins, was founded by Rabbi Salomon ben Isaac, who would be known and revered centuries later as Rashi, one of Judaism’s greatest scholars, author of commentaries on both the Bible and the Talmud. Having no sons, Salomon broke with tradition and taught Torah to his daughters, Joheved, Miriam, and Rachel. While his wife, Rivka, worried that no man would marry such learned women, Salomon had no difficulty finding husbands for them among his finest students.
His two older daughters entered into arranged marriages. Joheved was betrothed to Meir ben Samuel, a lord’s son from nearby Ramerupt, while Miriam agreed to a match with Judah ben Natan, a Parisian orphan whose mother had supported herself and her son by pawning jewelry and lending money to women. Rachel, Salomon’s youngest, insisted that nothing but a love match would satisfy her and married Eliezer ben Shemiah, the son of a wealthy merchant from Provence.
With the eleventh century drawing to a close, Salomon’s yeshiva thrived as more and more foreign merchants studied with him while attending the two seasonal fairs held every year in Troyes. And they sent their sons to him for the rest of the year, so these young men could one day learn sufficient Talmud to allow them to enter the upper echelon of Jewish society. Salomon’s sons-in-law helped with the burgeoning population of students, which gave Salomon time to write and edit his now authoritative commentaries. In addition he and his relatives worked in the family vineyard—tending the grapevines, producing wine from its fruit, and selling the vintage from his cellar.
Like her older sisters, Rachel continued to study Talmud with her father, though there was no longer need for secrecy. She bore Eliezer a son and a daughter, and partnered with Miriam to establish a jewelry and money-lending business in Troyes similar to the one Miriam’s mother-in-law still ran in Paris. Rachel’s future seemed nothing if not rosy and assured—after all, she was her father’s favorite, adored by her husband, and the eventual matriarch of a large family of scholars.
Regretfully for Rachel, however, fate seemed to have conspired against her.
Part One
one
Troyes, France
Summer 4851 (1091 C.E.)
Rachel’s fingers rifled through the chest that held her most valuable belongings, searching once more for the parchment she had dug out no less than ten times that week. Taking a deep breath, she forced her shaking hands to steady themselves so she could read from the conditional divorce’s text.
In case I do not return after an absence of six months: . . . I, Eliezer ben Shemiah of the town of Arles . . . , being of sound mind and under no constraint; I do release and send away and put aside you, Rachel bat Salomon, who have been my wife from time past to the present . . . that you may have permission and control over yourself to go to be married to any man whom you desire. . . . This shall be from me to you a bill of dismissal, a document of release, and a letter of freedom, according to the Law of Moses and Israel.
Shemayah ben Jacob, a witness
Moses haCohen, a witness
After a night of fervent lovemaking, she and Eliezer had kissed good-bye on the last Sunday in December, following the close of the winter Cold Fair, which meant that the six months would be over next week.
Already merchants were arriving for summer’s Hot Fair, but none of them carried a letter for her. Clearly her thoughtless husband could not be bothered to write that he would be delayed. Had he never considered how much she would worry?
Rachel started to clench her fists but caught herself before crumpling the precious document, her conditional get.
A pox on Eliezer! He had no idea what it was like for her, all those anxious days and long lonely nights, wondering what could have detained him.
It would serve her husband right if she went to the beit din on Thursday, six months and a day since he’d left, presented his conditional get, and became divorced. Of course she’d have to wait another three months before remarrying, by which time he’d surely have arrived home. Then Eliezer would be the one to wait and suffer while she took her time deciding whether to reconcile, or not. The thought was a delicious one, but would she dare go through with it?
She took another deep breath. He was probably waiting for a ship to arrive with his merchandise, or he was negotiating a contract with someone who might well take advantage of his need to hurry. Rachel could think of a dozen legitimate reasons why Eliezer had not yet arrived.
She scowled down at the paper in her hand. When a decent husband, a loving husband, knows he’ll be late, he makes an effort to inform his wife. Her anger flared once more as she imagined Eliezer going about his business in Maghreb, perhaps enjoying a tryst with a local serving wench, with nary a thought of his faithful wife fretting at home.
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